29. Effect of Mechanical Property of Lamina with Presence of Fiber Waviness in Temperature Environment

Abstract

Increasing use of composite materials to heavy load carrying structural applications has brought great attentions on almost insurmountable defects in fabricating these thick composite structures. Fiber waviness, an imperfection of fiber alignment as shown in Figure 1 is often found in the thick composite laminates of compound curvature and in the region of the thickness change. It appears to be a failure initiation site in these composite structures. Hence, determination of loss in stiffness, strength and fatigue life has becoming an important concern in designing of these structures.